Mike Freeman's NFL Grades: Pre-Week 14 Edition

The biggest, fattest "F" this week can only go to one place. Only one. There is no other candidate.

Human beings make mistakes. There are many, many different kinds of people-y mistakes. In football, there are mistakes. Coaches and players make them. Game officials, too. Yet there are bad mistakes, really bad mistakes, and what Jeff Triplette's crew did during Sunday night's game at Washington.

Getting the down correct is one of the most basic—and important—duties of an officiating crew. It's the officiating equivalent of taking a breath. Can't get that right, shouldn't be a ref.

Whether or not it had an impact on the game is irrelevant. The point is, it could have. The larger point is, NFL refs shouldn't be making those types of mistakes.

Triplette, to me, is one of the worst refs in all of sports. If not the worst. That's my opinion based on watching him officiate for years. What happened in Washington wasn't a fluke for Triplette and his crew.

This once-proud defense gave up almost 500 total yards of offense. Adrian Peterson had 211. Unbelievably, the Bears still had a chance to win. Coach Marc Trestman made an incredibly insane call to attempt a long field goal on second down.

The kind of rebound win, post-Patriots loss, that was remarkably impressive. Peyton Manning had a few offensive components either missing or hurt and still threw five TDs. On the road. Against a nasty division opponent in the Chiefs. Great win.

Running back DeMarco Murray had three touchdowns against Oakland, and if the Cowboys can continue this type of balance, they will be legit threats in the playoffs. Tony Romo played well despite fighting an illness. He really is having an MVP-type season.

Nick Foles is doing something we've rarely seen before, and while I was a skeptic, along with others, no one can be now. If it comes down to Eagles-Cowboys in the playoffs, well, I don't know any longer. The Eagles are a scary team.

It really doesn't get any worse than this. It was a level of quarterbacking ineptitude rarely seen, even for the Jets, who have seen a tremendous amount of quarterbacking ineptitude in the past several decades. Smith will start this week.

Total domination over Green Bay. Detroit linebacker DeAndre Levy got his league-leading sixth interception. The Lions still get in their own way. Two of the first four drives led to lost fumbles. Do that in the playoffs, you lose.

What former coach Tony Dungy said about New England on NBC is perfect: "This team reminds me so much of our 2006 Super Bowl team in Indy. They’re decimated on defense, but they’ve got a great quarterback who’s making plays and keeping them in every game. Tom Brady is the reason they’re winning." Yep.

Just when you want to believe in the Rams, they launch one of these stinkers. The Rams had 73 total yards in the first half against San Francisco. Kellen Clemens was the quarterback. Might as well have been Kellen Winslow.

Clearest indication that RGIII isn't totally right: Teams are stacking the line to stop the running game, and RGIII can't take advantage because he is no longer fast enough to beat teams around the corner. His receivers are also flotsam.

Imagine if Adrian Peterson had a real quarterback. Even just a decent quarterback. Even just a quarterback that could throw a spiral. Half-spiral. Semi-accurately. In the near vicinity of a receiver. Kinda near, even. Maybe within 10 yards, even. Fifteen max.